Uganda Government to impose 12% tax on all internet packages

Internet users in Uganda from July 1st will have a 12% tax added to their data packages. The parliament approved the government’s proposed tax to offset debts of US$18.4 billion. Uganda is believed to be one of the most expensive countries in Africa for data rates and the data tax follows the failed attempt to impose another tax in 2018 on over-the-top (OTT) applications, including WhatsApp and Twitter. The Communications Commission in 2020 estimated that only 11.3 million subscribers of 18.9 million paid the tax on OTT. The balance of the country’s internet users use virtual private networks (VPNs) to evade the government’s sight.